, 1887-03-10
Into n Roaring Torrent Of Wild
Waters.
Miraculous Escape Of Passengers
and Train Men.

rOau near Dc 500, MO-, WHICH was
very briefly referred to late last night,
while not being at all unusual in re-
gard to fatal casualties, proved:to have
been quite remarkable in respect to
several circum stances which attended
it. 1t occurred at Victoria, thirty
miles south Of here, n little after 10
O'Clock, and was occasioned by the
giving way under the train of q trestle
which crossed Joachim creek at that
point. The train was the Texas ex-
press, and consisted of baggage and
express and mail cars, smoker, two
passenger coaches and four sleepers,
heavy rain had been falling all day
and the creek was much swollen. AT
Hemutite, the first station this side OF
the trestle, the engineer received
ORDERS TO RUN CAUTIOUSLY,
as the rain had been heavy and the
creek was out of its banks. Engineer
Kelly says he ran slowly beyond that
point, and both lie and his fireman,
Vim. Hach, watched the track very
carefully. AS he approached the tres
tie Kelly observed that the track was
entirely straight and level showing
nothing wrong and he went OH without
the slightest fear or hesitation, but
when his engine reached about the
middle OF the trestle he felt the whole
structure sinking beneath him. In an
instant he opened the valve and oper-
ating the air brakes to their full width
and brought the train to so quick II
stop that the front end Of one of the
cars was crushed in by the sudden
shock. This saved the coaches, but
the baggage, mail, express and smok-
ing cars went into the roaring torrent
below, carrying with them all the men
on board Engineer Kelly and fire.
man Hach went down with the engine
and were submerged in the flood.
Kelly, in his struggles to free him
self, found that one of his feet
was held fast, but ut the
same instant, and just us he realized
that he must drown,
THE ENGINE TURNED OVER,
his foot was released and he came to
the surface. Selling passing log he
clung to it desperately and was swept
down the torrent and lodged against
a tree $50 yards below. With scarcely
strength enough to move he Clasped
his arms and legs around limb OF
the tree, became unconscious and was
not restored until two or three hours
after he had been taken from the tree,
when he found himself kindly cared
for in house in Victoria. His face
and head were severely cut, two
of his toes cut from one of his feet and
he is badly bruised on various parts Of
his body He will recover. Fireman
Hach was carried about 800 yards
down the stream, lolged i'll II mass OF
brush and drift and was rescued soon
after the flood subsidized. The postal
car was swept away some distance and
as the water rushed through it from
end to end the mail was literally wash
ed out and is now scattered over miles
Of territory, or embedded in the mud
Of the creek. 1t is regarded as an al
most total loss, the whole of it being
completely soaked and addresses
OF letters obliterated Postal
clerks Mccullough, Shaiter and
Ryan were badly bruised and
ALMOST DROWNED,
and being stripped for work they lost
all their clothes, their gold watches
and about $3.50 in money, which were
carried away by the flood. The
smoker, which is said to have con
I tained some twenty persons, wa'
swept down about 300 feet below the
trestle and all OF its occupants are be-
/ licved to have been saved. They sue
| ceeded in getting outside ot the ca
and cltlng TO- its top un
til they were rescued. There
/ is some doubts about the bag
gage man and express messenger bc
ing saved but II latte dispatch from th'
wreck says none of the train mei
were lost.
The cause OF the unprecedented
flood is believed to have been Il clout
burst which took place late in tin
evening, and filled the creek whicl
runs between rugged hills for mile
so full that it became II raging torren
with current OF over twenty mile
per hour, and swept everything be
fore it.
A full list OF casualties canno
be obtained; but aside iron
Henry Byron, OF jamestown
New York, who was found drowned il
the smoker, and Cyrne, Il brakeman
who had "a foot dislocated, non
, other than those mentioned abOv
were amy way seriously injured
I Nearly onc-half Of those in the smoke
\ lost most Of their clothes, they being
TORN FROM THEIR PERSONS
either getting out of the car or by tn
rushing water through which the
were dragged ashore by ropes. !
farmer, named Andrew White, q
i'Rridce station, did heroic work in say